


Time Unaccounted For

by freckledfoxes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 9x06 coda, Gen, between nora's and the gas n' sip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 11:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckledfoxes/pseuds/freckledfoxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened in the time between leaving Nora's home and arriving at the Gas n' Sip the next morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Unaccounted For

**Author's Note:**

> This was written after being prompted by someone on tumblr. Not fluffy, or smutty, or anything really. Just what I think probably happened.

Dean gets a room for the night at some dumpy little motel on the outskirts of town. Cas had asked Dean to take him back to the Gas n’ Sip, where his few belongings still sat in wait for him on the store room floor, but Dean wouldn’t have any of that.

"No reason to sleep on a cold cement floor when I can afford to get us a room, Cas," Dean tells him, not really looking at Cas when he does. Cas complies, albeit reluctantly.

And so Dean does get them a room. Cas gets a real shower and a soft bed to sleep on for the night. And it’s nice. Not as nice, of course, as the shower that Cas had used at the bunker, or the bed he had laid on in the room designated as  _his_  also at the bunker, but it was still nice.

Guilt gnawed at Dean’s insides as he listened to Cas move about in the bathroom. He heard the shower turn on, the soft thump of cotton hitting the ground. There was the rub of dry feet against the wet shower floor. And about five minutes in, Dean heard Cas humming, singing words softly every few moments, barely audible over the noise of the water. It was a song Dean had never heard before. Probably something Cas had picked up on some top 40’s radio station that played all day long at that gas station. Dean might have laughed to himself if the circumstances had been different.

The water shuts off, but Dean isn’t really paying attention, still staring at the bathroom door when it opens wide.  Cas steps out, feet padding softly against the linoleum, then the carpet as he walks over to his bed. He only has a towel on and Dean can’t help but stare. He’s had that problem all day, actually.

“Dean,” Cas says, startling Dean from his daze. Dean clears his throat and looks pointedly away from Cas’ body to his face.

“Yeah?”

“You said I could borrow more comfortable clothes for sleeping in?” Cas reminds him, raising his eyebrows slightly.

“Oh, uh, yeah—right. Just a sec.” Dean gets up and rummages through his duffle until he finds an old t-shirt and sweatpants that Dean hasn’t really worn in a long time. The shirt is worn and has a few holes. The logo for some brand of whiskey is faded and scratched off in places. But they were something. More than he’d given Cas when Dean had kicked him out, at least.

Dean stands and hands the clothes to Cas. “That should do ya.”

Cas gave him a nod. “Thank you, Dean,” he says before turning and reentering the bathroom, closing the door softly behind him.

Dean sighed and sat down on his bed again, leaning back against the headboard. He ran a hand over his face and stared at his feet stretched out in front of him. Everything screamed at him,  _Just take him home. Bring your friend back home. You can make it work._ And it hurt. It made his teeth hurt, it made his insides hurt, it made his eyes hurt. Everything  _hurt_.

When Dean had arrived in town and found Cas at the Gas n’ Sip, Dean had been excited. Elated, actually, and he’d beamed at Cas with all of the affection he had in him. At first Cas had looked relived, but the Dean sensed a shift as the tone of the conversation seemed a little sour on Cas’ end. But Dean powered through; practically begged Cas to join him on this hunt. He might as well have been on his knees.

Throughout the day, the tension eased a bit, though it was still there. He could sense unhappiness from his friend, but Dean could tell Cas was trying to hide it. And Dean could relate to that. He knew how hard holding all of that in could be. He knew how hard a civilian life was, even if you did try to act like everything was fine.

But what the Angel that had almost killed Cas ( _Ephram, is that what Cas called him?_ ) had said… That Cas was  _choosing_  death…  it worried Dean more than a little—

The bathroom door opening once more broke Dean from his thoughts and he looked up as Cas crawled into his bed, pulling the covers up over his legs.

“How you feelin’, Cas?” Dean asked, keeping his tone gentle.

“I’m  _fine_ , Dean,” Cas responded, sounding annoyed. This might not be the first time Dean had asked.

“Look, man, you know I have to ask—“

“You  _keep_  asking, and my answer is the same  _every time_  Dean.” Cas huffed out a sigh and turned onto his side away from Dean.

Dean’s jaw clenched and he swallowed hard, giving a small nod. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Dean got to his feet and grabbed his own pajamas before walking to the bathroom to change. He walked out after brushing his teeth and he lay down in bed, pulling the comforter up over his shoulders as he rolled onto his side, facing away from Cas and out the window. Sleep did not come easy, but it did come.

Dean woke with the sun the next morning. He stretched slowly, taking a deep breath as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed at his eyes, ran a hand back through his hair, and looked over to where Cas slept.

Cas was curled up, facing toward Dean now, hand limp where it draped over the edge of the bed. Dean sighed and got to his feet. He went to Cas’ side and gave his shoulder a little shake. “Hey, buddy… Time to get up.”

Cas snuffled and turned his face into his pillow for a moment before lifting his head and blinking up at Dean.

“C’mon, Cas. Gotta get you to your 9-to-5,” Dean said softly, giving Cas a small smile.

Cas huffed and gave a short nod. He pushed himself up out of bed, grunting, looking for all the world like someone who really needed a day off. Dean sighed and stepped back over to his duffle, grabbing out some clothes for himself. He paused for a moment, thinking, then took out another pair of jeans and a shirt. He set them at the end of Cas’ bed. Cas looked at them, then up at Dean, brow furrowed.

Dean just shrugged. “I’m sure you need a clean pair of clothes.”

Cas gave a small nod.

Cas went to the bathroom to change and Dean changed quickly before Cas came back out. Cas walked over and held out the pajamas he’d worn all rolled up into a ball. Dean shook his head.

“Keep ‘em, Cas.”

Cas just frowned again, looked down at the clothes in his hands. Dean watched his jaw clench, watched the swallow roll down his throat. Cas gave a small nod. “Thank you, Dean.”

“Don’t worry about it. You ready to head out? We can pick of breakfast on the way.”

Cas gave another nod, but said nothing.

And that really was that. Nothing more. Dean had a million things he wanted to say, and he mulled them over in his head for the entire drive. It was a short ride, but neither Cas or Dean spoke. Dean thought about telling Cas. Thought about saying,  _I wanted you to stay. I thought you could stay. Ezekiel’s in Sam. He was gonna leave if you didn’t. It would kill Sam. I want you home as much as you wanna be home. I_ need _you home. I need_  you _. I’m sorry I had to make you leave. I can’t stop thinking about how much you must be hurting…_

He couldn’t tell him any of that. He couldn’t tell him about how he couldn’t get his brothers and sisters back home, either.  He couldn’t do that to his friend. Not now. Not when Cas was new, not when everything was so fresh, not when all the guilt was weighing on him in a way it probably never had before. He couldn’t add that to the baggage Cas already carried. Dean had to carry that for him. It was the least he could do. Cas was getting a fresh start, he could live as a human now, have a life away from the mess that Dean had dragged him into so many years ago.

They were at the Gas n’ Sip before Dean knew it. Dean hated that they were about to part ways again. Every time hurt just as much as the last. Every time stung. Every time held the possibility that it might be the last time they would ever see each other again.

Dean looked over at Cas as he parked the car and turned the engine off. He took a deep, steadying breath.

“Listen, Cas. Um—Back at the bunker…”


End file.
